Carol B. Tome
2022 Recipient
CEO, UPS
The theme of Carol's Four Pillar Tribute was "Lead to Inspire, Serve to Create, and Give to Remain"
Carol's dedication to leadership, service, and generosity has been demonstrated in many ways throughout her career. This includes spending nights and weekends donning the Home Depot orange apron and leading the world's shipping giant while maintaining the 'Customer-First, People-Led, Innovation-Driven' strategy.
Carol B. Tomé is the Chief Executive Officer of UPS. She is the 12th CEO in the 114-year history of the company.
Before joining UPS, Carol served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of The Home Depot, Inc., one of the world’s largest retailers. Carol’s passion for finance began in college while she worked summers at her father’s bank in her hometown of Jackson, Wyoming. She earned a bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of Wyoming and a master’s in finance from the University of Denver.
In 1981, she became a commercial lender for the United Bank of Denver (now Wells Fargo), and seven years later, she joined Johns Manville as the Director of Banking with a focus on company acquisitions from around the world. Under her leadership, Johns Manville experienced exponential growth and success, which ultimately led to Carol’s move to Atlanta as the Vice President and Treasurer of Riverwood International Corporation. Carol began her journey with The Home Depot in 1995 as Vice President and Treasurer. In her early days, Carol donned the orange apron at nights and on weekends, working alongside The Home Depot associates and learning the business from the ground up by connecting with her employees and customers. From May 2001 until her retirement in September 2019, Carol held the title of Executive Vice President and CFO. During her tenure, she delivered a 450% increase in shareholder value, expanded the number of stores from 400 to 2,200, and successfully led The Home Depot through the 2008-09 financial and housing crisis.
In March of 2020, she was named CEO of UPS, one of the world’s largest global logistics companies, employing more than 500,000 people and delivering an average of 25.2 million packages per day. Their “Customer-First, People-Led, Innovation-Driven” strategy has proven essential because of their focus on what matters most to their customers and employees and their investments in the technological advances necessary to achieve operational excellence. Carol is leading the shipping giant during dramatic growth in the e-commerce market, gaining international recognition for their supply chain solutions while also making strides in social impact and diversity initiatives.
In addition to her responsibilities at UPS, Carol serves as board member for Verizon Communications, Inc. and is a board trustee for Grady Memorial Hospital Corporation and the Atlanta Botanical Garden. She is also a member of The Committee of 200, The Buckhead Coalition, The Business Council, and the International Business Council of The World Economic Forum. She and her husband, Ramon, established the Tomé Foundation to support non-profit organizations enabling communities to protect natural resources, empower people for success, energize the arts, and embrace diversity. The foundation’s Tomé Scholar program provides scholarships for women and minority students pursuing degrees in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math.
Carol has been named to the Forbes list of “The World’s Most Powerful Women” and the publication’s inaugural “50 Over 50” list. She ranked No. 4 on Fortune’s most recent “Most Powerful Women in Business” list. Carol has also been the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, most recently the 2022 Eisenhower Award from the Business Executives for National Security, the 2021 Families First Social Equity Award, and the Atlanta American Jewish Committee’s 2019 National Human Relations Award. Carol and Ramon enjoy spending their free time on their farm in Chickamauga, GA.
